August 26, 2008

1^st Human Rights Conference in Budapest

The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to organize its first ever Human Rights Conference. The event on the 28th and 29th of August is to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We plan to create a tradition, by staging the conference with different topics in the coming years, next year regarding the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain, migration and freedom of movement will be high on the agenda.

The first conference is to concentrate on building relations between the NGO-s, international organizations and governments, with the aim of sharing different experiences, to deepen co-operation. They will discuss the challenges and priorities facing the Human Rights NGO’s, and learn about relevant EU directives.

Foreign Minister Kinga Göncz will open the conference at 09:00 on the 28th.

During the two days, four panels from the following organizations will participate:

- members of international organizations (UN, EC, EU, OECD)
- NGO’s from Central-Asia and the Balkans ( Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan)
- Governmental representatives (France, Holland, Ireland, Slovenia, Hungary)
- Big international Human Rights NGO’s (Freedom House, Amnesty International, Front Line Defenders, Minority Rights Group, ICDT).

Active members of other NGO’s are also among the guests, notably from Belarus and Moldovia.

The whole duration of conference will be shown live on the internet on our homepage, from 09:00 on Thursday.

For more information about the conference and the coverage please visit the website of the MFA: www.kulugyminiszterium.hu